Rat Holes
by pokedoom97
Summary: Chell has got exactly what she wanted. She's free now, with companion cube by her side what can go wrong? Yet somehow Chell feels empty. The story behind Doug Rattman will send Chell hurtling back into the world she tried so hard to escape. Will Chell make it out again? (BTW what Doug says into the radio is really the message you find playing in one of the chambers, i translated)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter** 1

Doug Rattman

Doug sucked in yet another pain filled rasping breath. Every movement was complete and utter agony, but he had to keep going. He stretched a shaky hand out and dragged himself one bit closer to the Medi bed. He knew he had 90.99% chance of dying of blood loss, 9% was the slim chance of survival, the other 0.1 percent meant he was already dead. The last thing he can do before deaths door closes upon him is leave a message for her; _she needs to know what I've done for her_. Blood smeared across the floor as Doug dragged his broken body to the base of the cold metal bed. Doug tried not to scream as he lifted his leg in front of him. A whimper escaped his lips as his shivering hands gently placed his bloodied leg on the cold tiles. Doug grabbed the radio off the side table and collapsed gasping and shivering upon his faithful companion cube. His only comfort in dying was he knew she would be with him until the end.

"You were very brave back there, you probably saved her life" Her voice whispered his ear. Doug let out a breathy laugh.

"Too bad I couldn't do the same for myself" he wiped away the blood gathering around the edges of the cube.

"At least you died trying..." The cube said affectionately.

"You always know what to say..." Doug felt the whole world had gone cold and the only warmth came from his cube. With a grunt he pulled the radio onto his lap and ran a bloody finger across it's glossy buttons.

_"Doug Hopper" _

A voice spoke to him from the darkness. The radio was speaking to him again. His slippery fingers found the record button and were poised to press down when movement caught his eye. _My eyes must be lying to me again, reality has deserted me_ Doug thought as a blood covered figure stood about three meters away.

"Henry?" Doug head was spinning. Henry was standing there, a ghostly phantom his mind must have created, smiling sadly at Doug. The drugs in his system were long gone, he could feel the lucid grip of his inescapable schizophrenia begin to kick in. Unexplainable anger filled Doug as he stared at his old partner. He hit the record and began to yell madly.

"You said it was only one! One isn't much" Doug mimicked Henry's voice "Here's your choice, THERE WAS NO CHOICE!" He shouted at the ghostly figure. His finger released the button as Henry began to convulse. Strips of skin began o peel off of Henry's face, then his arms, his chest, and his legs as he began to decompose right before his very eyes. With a scream Doug watched the flakes of skin take the shape of more people. One of the men caught his eyes, the man was holding a round spherical device, the morality core. With a cry of terror Doug pressed the button.

"HELP ME UNCLE JOHNSON!" Then with a hysterical laugh he added "Help me draw the design". Doug was being engulfed, smothered even, by his memories. There he was drawing up sketches and plans for new cores, each created by the DNA and personality of real people. To himself and to the memory of Henry he spoke slightly crazily "Oh man well, we've got a couple of sure fire winners, put them in" the memory showed the core being plugged into the mother board. My mind skipped ahead to the moment we realized what she was doing.

"Guhhh they turned out like the last ones , going through lation. It's countless to explode servers" Doug was vaguely aware of Companion cube trying to calm him down but he was too far gone to hear her. He could see all the workers, the test subjects, the family's everyone being engulfed in the noxious green mist. They all began to scream and thrash, trying desperately to escape the deadly vapor Mingling between the bodies Doug imagined Death closing in on him.

"ITS STARTED AGAIN, the ships has started" A quick image of a metal boat flashed through his mind, but it was gone almost as soon as he saw it. The bodies had stopped moving, they were all dead again. Fresh grief washed over Doug. The only person left standing in the room with him was...himself. It was him when he knew what was real, the drugged version of himself. He looked at the other Doug who's eyes were scared confused.

"Whatchya done now? They'll blame you ya know" Doug realized he was crying as he told himself it was his fault they were all doomed. Suddenly the world turned red. He saw the fake version of himself stroke his right leg, under his touch blood blossomed. It ran down the floor in a flood. Doug Screamed as the waves threatened to drown him.

"Please come back, IT'S NOT REAL!" Companion cube voice cut through the nightmarish visions. With a sob he opened his eyes back to reality. The room was clear once again.

"I'm going to die aren't I? I'm going to end up just like the rest of them. What was the point of it all?"

"To save that girls life, because of you no one else can be destroyed by the computer's madness, when she comes out she'll be free" The cubes voice was all Doug had to hold on to, he thought if she stopped speaking the madness would take hold again. Maybe it was better to die mad than alone. He flicked the record button one again.

"This is all futile, everybody is dead. It's the end of-" He sniffed as more tears spilled over his cheeks. Suddenly he felt desperate to tell Chell everything. The pool of blood around him began to shiver and a face formed. It was Chell. She was even more beautiful than her files said she was. Doug was almost ashamed by his painting of her for not capturing her beauty.

"Please go to the top, touch it-" He choke on his words as he hastily spilled them out. He was lost in his memories again. All Doug could see was the moment he lost companion cube's voice.

"The voice is gone, the murderous turrets. Dodge left or right round those turrets? Oh will it download?" Chell melted back into Doug's blood, leaving him all on his own again. Black spots had begun to dance before his eyes. Doug noticed the pain was beginning to ebb away. He looked to his cube and was struck with paranoia.

"Your my long time partner, please don't go! Please don't leave me. The pain is too much!" He cried to the cube.

"It's ok, I'm not going anywhere, I'll stay with you 'till the end of time if I could" She said warmly in Doug's ear.

"I'll take a nap." He finally switched off the radio.

"I hope she finds this...I'm so tired" Doug could feel himself slipping closer to darkness.

" You've earned a rest" She said as Doug claimed over her into the bed.

"You see, I told you I would always need you" Doug gasped with pain as his injured leg hit the cold bed. His senses were numbing as he slipped closer and closer toward the painless peace of death.

"I love you" He told the cube as his eyes began to close. He thought he saw a flash of blue but he was beyond caring anymore.

"I love you to Doug" Companion cube said in barley more than a whisper. Pages spilled out the bag on his shoulder and fluttered to the floor. With one last sigh Doug Hopper succumbed to the inevitable darkness of death... 


	2. Chapter 2

P-Body

P-Body's circuits fizzed into life as a surge of power flooded through the system. _I shouldn't be awake this early, the mother board told us we weren't ready yet_. He unhooked himself from the re-assembling machine. A buzzing beside him told P-Body that Atlas had been powered up too.

_"What's happening, why are we out so early?" _Atlas asked. P-Body shrugged. He cast his eye around the room. There was one portal gun mounted upon the wall, the other had cluttered to the floor. He grabbed the yellow one from the wall and turned it on.

_"The mother board must have crashed, backup generator must have turned us on by accident"_ P-Body said as Atlas retrieved his blue gun.

_"Why do you always call her the _Mother Board_ she hates that you know, just call her by her real name"_ Atlas buzzed.

_"You're just jealous because I'm the favourite" _P-Body was deliberately stirring him.

_"That's not true...is it? She can't have favourites can she?"_ Atlas eye was wide with panic.

_" This is what she mean by being to human, we shouldn't show this much emotion...in front of her anyway, now come on, let's go find out what's going on" _P-body pushed open the door and stepped out into the hall way.

_ "Wait up, my legs aren't as long as yours" _Atlas's legs clanked after P-body as they moved swiftly through the facility.

_"Where is everyone, the place is empty, not even a turret in sight"_ Atlas poked another empty room open then closed it disappointedly. P-Body shuffled around a corner when something caught his eye. Red. Red stains everywhere, like ink sprayed everywhere. No...not ink, blood.

_"Look" _P-Body pointed at the bloody smears leading around the corner. With a nervous glance at P-Body, Atlas began to follow the trail of gore. The only sounds the pair could hear as they crept along the trail was click and groan of their joints. A cry of pain sent both the droids crashing into each other. Atlas peered into the doorway of the room and froze. P-Body notice words scrawled across the doorway. **Medical Unit 17**. P-Body glanced over Atlas's shoulder and saw what had made him freeze. There was blood everywhere, more blood than P-Body had ever seen since he was manufactured. A radio smeared in the red liquid sat upon a pink and grey cube and in the center of the pool of blood lay a crumpled figure. A human male lay in the center of the blood barely moving, P-body would've mistaken the man for dead were it not for the sounds of pain filled gasps. The man placed a hand on the cube and spoke weakly.

"I'm so tired..." The man looked at the cube as if expecting an answer, gave a shaky smile then climbed painfully into the cot. In barley more than a whisper he spoke again to the inanimate object.

"I told you I would always need you"

_"Come one, we've gotta help him" _P-Body whispered to Atlas. He nodded slightly and the pair crept silently into the room. P-Body headed directly for the surgical equipment in the corner. Atlas edged closer to the man and stared at him transfixed. P-Body had grabbed an IV and a needle when he said to Atlas

"_Stop staring at the human and help me already"_ P-Body said, slightly annoyed with the bot. The human muttered something and his eyes began to close. Not good

"_Do you want to help or not, blood bag now!" _P-Body shouted to Atlas. With a yelp Atlas began to open every cupboard and fridge franticly. P-Body quickly pressed the sensors in his metal fingers against the skin of the human's neck. His heart was feebly fluttering against his chest. He wasn't dead yet, just unconscious, they still had time. P-Body tore the cloth from around the man's leg and threw it aside. He took a thick wad of gorse pads and pressed them firmly against the entrance of the wound, and then the exit hole then wrapped a roll of bandages around the area. P-Body was immensely glad he was originally part medical droid before he was reassembled as a testing droid as he raised the human's leg up into the air.

_" So while I was having lasers shot at me you were in medical school were you? I thought you used to be a turret"_ Atlas came back with the bags. P-Body talked while he worked.

_"I was originally a proto type for a hospital droid but they decided humans were better and I was sent to the coop test labs, and I'm not a turret I just look kinda like one"_ P-Body had hooked up the IV and attached one of the blood bags. _" Keep watching his chest, if he stops breathing or his heart stops beating, tell me"_

P-Body walked over to the bench top and began opening draws at random until he found a needle and stiches.

_"Uh, what are you doing?"_Atlas stared at the needle in P-Body's hand. P-Body rolled his eye.

"_What do you think I'm doing? I'm stitching up the wound, unless you want the human to die of gangrene?"_ P-Body was glad to find the man's breathing getting steadier. Atlas stepped back and finally let P-body get to work. The long minutes dragged by, the only sounds in the whole facility coming from the squeaks and whirrs of the two droids and the ragged breathing of the last person left alive in this place. P-Body's elegant fingers darted back and forth across the human's skin, stitching and repairing. Atlas stood to the side watching fascinated as the human's heart beat gradually grew stronger as P-Body worked his magic. Eventually P-Body stood back and inspected his handy work. The area which was earlier nothing but a jagged hole was now clean and bloodless with a neat row of stitches.

"_It's not perfect but it's all I can do, he needs a proper doctor but from the look of thing...that may be hard to come by. He may still die even after all this from shock, but...Atlas, grab his legs, we're taking him over to the cryogenic chamber until we can figure out what's going on_" P-Body placed his cold metal hands around the human's shoulders to lift him.

"_You sure? The power's probably down for the entire facility, why would it be working there and not here?_" Atlas grabbed his feet none the less.

"_We can patch it into the reserve grid, it really isn't that hard_" P-Body lifted the human up. The two robots carried the last human between them as if he weighed no more than a slip of paper through the abandoned facility. They found there was one human already in one of the chambers. P-Body decided to put the human next to that one for when the time came to wake them both. He left Atlas to deal with the chamber to start up the grid and was surprised to find it already running. This made things even easier. It took mere seconds to connect the second cell up. He wouldn't tell Atlas what that mean for them though. Let him find out on his own. Being a droid meant it was easy for P-Body to hid his emotions from Atlas as they began to return to the assembly machines. Atlas happily babbled, completely unaware of the consequences of saving that human's life. There wasn't enough power left anywhere in the facility to power them up again once they shut down. With a click the two droids lowered themselves back into their machines, discarding the unused portal guns as they did so.

"_See you on the other side_" Atlas buzzed as they began to shut down. Ignorance was indeed bliss. P-Body shut his circuits down, knowing they might not ever awaken again. This facility was dead, to well hidden to even be accidently discovered, they will likely never see each other again. If P-Body could smile, he would be doing so as he shut down, leaving this world until the day the facility would be restored... in over two thousand years from now.


	3. Chapter 3

Wheatly

The earth looked so small from here. Wheatley could only just see the blue and green planet. It really didn't help he couldn't stop spinning. Nearly half a year had passed and he was still drifting further and further away from everything he'd ever known. If it weren't for the Space Core he'd probably gone mad. What Wheatley considered the end of the world the Space Core thought was the greatest thing that could ever happen. At first Wheatley found him annoying but now he found him hilarious. Space Core started naming stars after himself, claimed the Milky Way for himself then renamed the moon to 'Sammy'. Without that crazy nut Wheatley would have done nothing but wallow in misery.

He wished he could go back, even just for a day, and tell her he was sorry. He missed Chell more than anything. He didn't really want to kill her; he wanted to get her out of there. It was just... Wheatley wanted to explain everything to Chell but that was now impossible thanks to that retched computer. Now _that's_ who he wanted to kill.

"Three hundred and twelve, three hundred and thirteen, three hundred and fourteen" The Space Core yammered on.

"Mate, I'm telling you now, you can't count every single star you see, I mean, how do you know you're not just counting the same stars over and over again?" Wheatley asked.

"So much space, gotta see it all" The core whizzed past Wheatley. He rolled his eye. Wheatley looked back at the blue dot called earth and sighed. Does she ever think about him? Is she still alive would probably be a better question to wonder. Glados probably killed her after getting her body back. Wheatley really hoped she hadn't.

"Oh my god. Space cops! Gotta play it cool, gotta play it cool" Space core Jjbbered excitedly.

"What on earth are you dribbling about" Wheatley turned to see Space Core flashing his yellow eye at...a rock? There was a small meteorite about the size of a book shelf speeding towards Space Core.

"Uhh hello, you might want to move there if you don't want to be hit alright mate?" Wheatley called out to the yellow core.

"It was him coppers not me, I was framed. FRAMED!" It yelled at the rock. Wheatley groaned and began pushing himself over to him.

"Look mate, you gotta move, just go over there for a second alright?" He completely ignored Wheatley and kept talking to the rock that was quickly closing in. He probably had about ten seconds before it hit him. If it hit him he would be sent flying off in the direction we'd spent three months moving away from. Wait...if it hit _him_ it would push him back towards earth! Wheatly deliberately slammed himself into the Space Core, sending him flying around the rock.

"Woah, too fast too fast!" He complained as he spun wildly. The meteor hit Wheatly hard, slightly denting his side. With a 'Oof' Wheatley was knocked back in the direction of earth. Space Core looked at him.

"Hey. Hey. Where you going?" He said.

"Home mate, there's no place left for me here" Wheatley smiled. Well, the Core equivalent of a smile, it's hard to smile without a mouth. Space Core looked sad; something Wheatley didn't think was possible.

"Why?" It said sadly. The distance between them was growing with every passing second.

"I have to" Wheatley said simply.

"Don't go..." Space core mopped.

"If you ever decide to come back, drop me a line. You could tell me how many stars you've found" The meteor bumped into him again speeding him away. Ow.

"Ok" It said. The poor guy, lost alone in space. At least he'll be happy there.

"Good luck mate!" Wheatly had to yell as they drew further away. Space core spun around and cried 'weeee, bye bye'

Wheatley watched as his only friend became a yellow ball, a yellow spot then a yellow dot against the black space. He was sad to see him go, but he'll have a good life out there. Wheatley turned to see the moon getting larger and larger as he flew towards it. Happiness swelled inside him. He was going home.

Chell

The night sky stretched out in an infinite blackness dotted with a sea of stars. This was one of the most things I loved about the real world. Before now I had never seen the moon or a shooting star, I had seen the artificial lights always making it day. I had never felt grass on my skin, the sun on my cheek, the rain in my hair, nothing. I have felt it all now. These past several or so months have been heaven. With nothing but companion cube with me I have made my own world. This grassy field has been my home ever since I left Aperture. I never really ventured far away from that outhouse that was one of the entrances to the facility, I don't know why but I just feel more secure knowing where exactly it is. Companion cube was lying next to me, its pink hearts warm to the touch. Just like a person. I sighed. There have been no other people here, no sign of them, no trace of them, nothing but the facility remained. I don't understand it. I know for a fact when I destroyed Glados and was sucked outside that was where I was meant to be now, back then it was covered in concrete and had cars and buildings and all those things associated with life. Now there was barley a sign there was even asphalt here. I occasionally found a bit of glass or a perfectly flat bit of rock that was once obviously part of something bigger but that's it.

I gazed at the moon, lost in my thoughts. I was on that thing for a few seconds. It nearly killed me too, but I was there. I can still picture the white rocks, the flag planted there, Wheatley...I shook my head. I don't want to think about him. He betrayed me and that's all there is to it, no sadness, no regret. It was his own fault for what happened to him. I hope he flies into a black hole. I looked out at the sky. Sometimes I think I catch a glimpse of a tiny blue and yellow dot next to each other. Probably just my imagination but it still nags on my mind. A cold breeze blew across the grassy plains and chilled me to the bone. I zipped up my jump suit and pressed companion cube closer to me. It was always warm, no matter what was going on, it was warm. I was ecstatic when Glados brought it back up with me because I knew this wasn't just one of the many in storage, this was _my_ companion cube. I washed all the soot and marks left by the fire off and made it nice and clean. I still felt awful about putting it in the incinerator, I had no choice but I still felt bad about it.

I saw something streak across the sky out of the corner of my eye. The sky lit up as a white and red thing burned fiercely across the night. Bits broke away from the main chunk and shrivelled into nothingness until there was barley anything left but a bright burning ball. I suddenly panicked. That was going to hit somewhere nearby, I was sure of it. The bright image of whatever it was burned into my eyes as it flew over head and crashed into the ground somewhere close by. A shockwave washed over me and I gripped my cube hard. I opened my eyes to see a glowing coming from my left. It was probably no less than four test chambers away. Wait. Four test chambers? God I've really got to stop comparing things to back in Aperture. I scrambled shakily to my feet, holding the cube close, and stared at the orange glow. For a few seconds the world hung there, suspended as I stared at the red huge against the night sky. The spell was broken as a sound echoed across the field. A cry of pain filled the night sky, stabbing up into liquid blackness like a knife, driving into my heart. I knew that voice.


	4. Chapter 4

Chell

I ran like my world was on fire. There was absolutely no way I just heard that voice, it was impossible, just a trick of the mind. But that didn't stop me from running faster than I have ever done before. My companion cube bounced wildly in my arms, still warm to the touch even in the cold wind that wiped around us. The glow of heat was slowly dying as whatever it was that landed began to cool. My boots bounced as I ran over rocks and ditches to get there as fast as possible. I could feel the heat radiating from the smouldering crater as soon as I got close. Little pain filled grunts came from the centre of the dirt. Even after running all that way I felt scared, no, terrified at what I would find in there. Slowly I lowered my companion cube to the ground and stood staring at the very edge of the up thrown dirt and rock.

If that really was him down there what would I do? Leave him there? Would I even want him here? He did try to kill me after all, I should hate him with every fibre of my body. Well...there was a time when that was true, but now... I don't know what I feel anymore. A small part of me has been desperately lonely, remembering waking to the sight of that core talking to me completely oblivious to everything that was happening around us. I found myself wanting to hear the weird little accent of his more and more as the long days of sitting in a field drawled by. With my next step I could see him again, hear him, feel him. But there was still that hesitation. Did he even want to see me? I took a deep breath and stepped forward. In the ditch still glowing very slightly were chunks of slightly metallic rocks that had broken up in the atmosphere, dirt and rubble covered most of it up. And in the centre was...

He looked exactly the same. Same blue eye, same scratched and dented panels, same everything. Well, other than the fact he was still very slightly glowing from the fall. But he was there. He was real. Wheatley. He hadn't noticed me yet, he was still grimacing with the pain of burning and slamming into the ground at god knows what speed. For probably the only time in my life I was thankful for the fact Aperture made everything to withstand unimaginable punishments. Suddenly, that big blue eye had found me. I froze to the spot, emotions choking me like a hand around my throat. The long seconds felt more like hour, an eternity spent looking back at the core's mesmerising gaze. Then, the silence broke.

"...Chell?" Wheatly whispered, as if he didn't believe his words were true. This broke the spell. I stumbled over the edge of the crater, slid down the dirt and desperately ran to him. Tears began to burn my eyes as I ran for him, oblivious to anything else. Well, that was until the ground began to shake. I stopped beside Wheatly in horror as the ground gave a groan and began to bend. What the hell is happening!

"I-I think I may or may not have broken the roof. Quick we have to get out of here!" Wheatly shouted at me. Before I could run the extra steps to grab him the sound of metal snapping shook the ground, knocking me over. I tried to stand, but when I put my hand down it went straight through the ground. I pulled back alarmed and watched as giant cracks begin to open up in the dirt. Wheatly gave a shout as the ground from under him started to give way. He began to roll closer and closer to the edge of the widening hole.

"Oh god help!" He cried out as he reached the edge. I reached out to grab him but the ground shifted once more. With a howl he fell. I watched him disappear over the lip of the earth, swallowing him up like a fly. No...I-I can't lose him again! Not so soon! Without casting a second thought I dove after him, flinging myself over the edge and into the dark abyss. Wind rushed past me as I flew through the darkness, chasing the blue core as it spun out of control. A normal person would be afraid, would be screaming for their life if they were in my situation. Not me. I had jumped down so many bottomless pits I no longer feel afraid, I just enjoy the feeling of the air rushing past. Not a sound escaped my lips as I dove after the blue core, reaching out for him as I went. He just yelled, not even noticing my fingers brush his metal panel. With each passing second we were probably getting closer and closer to the ground. I still had the fall boots on but if I didn't grab Wheatly now he could fall down some crevasse and never be seen again. Space must have been bad enough for him; a hole would be the death of him. I tried again to grab him, but each time I just seemed to flick him into a spin.

With one final desperate grab my fingers finally found one of his handles. He set out a surprised yelp as I pulled him close. I clutched him to my chest as we fell, somehow feeling safer knowing he was there. Then suddenly the ground appeared. Even with the fall boots on the sheer force of the impact was enough to pull my legs out from under me. A sharp pain flared in my head as I smacked the ground. Black spots danced across my vision, threatening to drag me into unconsciousness. I would have almost gladly gone had it not been for the one blue spot in my vision.

"_Still _being held, Jesus Christ you're a good catch! Did you...did you jump after me?" Wheatly's voice sounded far away and distant, as if separated by a wall of glass. I nodded slightly, causing a little stab of pain to lace my brain. I winced as I tried to pull myself to my feet, failed, then settled for sitting up. Wheatly's handle was still sitting in my shaking hand.

"Really? You came after me? But...why?" Wheatly asked. I hesitated. Why had I gone after him? He had betrayed me, replaced me then tried to kill me. He was nearly as bad as GLaDoS. Yet at the same time... he was my only friend. But did that really counteract attempted murder? Uhg my brain hurt's too much to really think about this. Instead, I let my hatred for him sink back and my love rise forth. Ignoring the dull thud in my brain I grabbed him and pulled him into a desperate embrace. Wheatly gave a little gasp. All Wheatly could do was make little choking noises, as if he was on the verge of tears.

"Chell I...I'm...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I-I just I...I didn't mean it. I know you hate me now and I totally get it, just let me say I didn't mean to do it. I really didn't, please believe me" Wheatly begged with me. If he were human he would be in tears. A strange emotion I had never felt before stirred in my chest. I didn't want to see him suffer anymore. But... how to explain it to him properly? I couldn't think of anything that would truly explain what was happening inside me...except...

Would he understand it? I'm sure he would but...would _he_ feel like I lied to him? Well technically I never said I really was like this so it's not a lie. I felt nervous, yet at the same time exhilarated. I was actually going to do it! I pulled him back a little so I could look him right in the eye.

"...Apple"


End file.
